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VEHICLE AXLE. No. 420,730. Patented Feb. 4, 1890.

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g UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THEODORE O. MUNZ, OF TOLEDO, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO TI-IE AMERICAN STEEL GEARCOMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

VEHICLE-AXLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 420,730, dated February4, 1890.

Application led December 7, 1889. Serial No. 332,904. (No model.)

.To a/ZZ whom it may concern:

, Be it known that I, THEODOEE C. MUNZ, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Toledo, in the county of Lucas and State of Ohio, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in a Running-Gear forVehicles; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear,and exact description of the invention, which will enable others skilledin the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of referencemarked thereon, which form part of this speciiication.

My invention relates to running-gear for vehicles, and has moreparticular reference to the axles and spindles.

The object of the invention is to provide an axle of greater rigiditylthan heretofore, combined with lightness.

A further object is to provide an axle that can be finished withoutliability of the paint and varnish being fractured by torsional strain.

A further object is to provide an axle designed to receive an arm orspindle, of a formation to preclude the possibility of longitudinalmovement within the same.

Afurther object is to provide an arm or spindle with an expanded innerend to conform to the contour of the axle, with a collar to abut againstthe end of the same to determine the width of tread of the Wheels.

The invention consists in the parts and combination of parts hereinafterdescribed, and pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings, Figure l represents a side elevation of a completeaxle. Fig. 2 is a plan view showing the spindles formed with expandedends, secured therein by clips. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal verticalsectional view of Fig. 4 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view ofthe axle with the spindles secured within the same and joinedby an in*termediate stiening metal bar. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of one ofthe spindles formed with an expanded inner end.

My invention relates more particularly to that form of axle describedand claimed in my patent dated May 22,1888, and numbered 383,409, andhas reference to securing an axlearm therein, and to means ofstrengthening the axle by means of a wooden iilling, and a supplementalmetal cap to the under side thereof.

It has been found that a metal axle formed of sheet metal possesses allthe rigidity of a tubular one, combined with lightness and economy ofcost; but to guard against lateral strain there must be a supplementalfilling, preferably of wood. rlhis filling, being concealed, does notaifect the finish of paint. or varnish, thereby obviating a greatobgection `The object of my invention is to form the axle with anincreasing area in cross-section from the ends toward the center,thereby cansinga gradual outward inclination to the interior, andw thenforming the arm of the spindle with an outward inclination or divergenceto cause the same to iit closely within the inclined sides of the axleto prevent displacement longitudinally in the direction of the length ofthe axle, regardless of the clips, and by means of acollar at thetermination ,of the spindle to prevent movement longitudinally in thedirection of the center of the axle by reason of the collars abuttingagainst the ends of the axle.

A further object is to form the inner ends of the arms of a width to beadapted to be joined te a bar of awidth corresponding with thelongitudinal opening of the under side of the axle, to wholly confinethe wood filling within the channel of the same.

A designates an axle formed of a sheetof metal and pressed into thedesired shape, which may be of U, V, rectangular, or any desired form incross-section.

.B designates a iilling-piece, preferably of wood, and extending theentire length of the metal axle, this lling being designed to strengthenthe axle from lateral strain, the

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angle or curvature of the metal being sufficient to strengthen the samefrom the ordinary strain vertically caused by the weight of the usualload carried thereon.

C designates the arm of the spindle I), which, to obviate displacementeither toward or from the center of the axle and thereby varying thewidth of tread of the wheels, is formed with an outward divergence orfiattened flaring contour to correspond with the interior of the axle,and with a collar E to abut against the end thereof to prevent theinward movement of lthe arm.

In securing the arm of the spindle in place the flattened flaring end ofthe arm is placed between the sides of the axle, with the collar Eabutting against the end thereof, the metal of thel arm bearing againstthe wood filling and being held in place by clips F, the outer pair ofwhich may be the shackles, to which the thills or pole is attached, andby this means the filling is securely held in place; and to furtherstrengthen the center portion of the axle a bar of metal G may be weldedor secured to the inner end of the arms, as shown in Fig. 1, which restswithin the channel of of the axle, thereby wholly inclosin g the woodfilling-piece without detracting from the appearance of the axle orcausing a fracture of the paint or varnish upon the same. In the latterconstruction the collars E abut against the ends of the axle andproperly center the bar G and spindles D and hold the same from movementin either direction.

It will be seen from the above description that I form an axle andspindles capable of perfect finish by painting Without joinder of thestrengthening parts to appear in sight, and that the axle and arm withthe spindles attached may be formed as an article of manufacture and beassembled without the aid of skilled labor, and that, if desired, thecentral bar may be of the exact width to be joined to the arms tosupplement the filling-piece to add to the strength of the axle.

What I claim is- 1. In combination with an axle having angled sides andan open base portion,a fillingpiece and a spindle having an arm formedto t between the sides of the axle and bear upon the'filling-piece, asand for the purpose set forth.

2. In combination with an axle formed with depending sides, forming anopen base portion with a diverging cavity, arms formed with a flatteneddiverging contour to fill the cavity their entire length, as and for thepurpose set forth.

3. In combination with an axle formed with a channel havinga contractionfrom the ccnter toward each end, a filling-piece and a metal bar of likecontour located within the channel and terminating in spindles, as andfor the purpose set forth.

4. 1n combination with an axle formed of sheet metal and having achannel upon the under side thereof with an oppositely-contractedcontour, an arm formed with a collar to abut against the ends and aflaring portion to t within the channel, and an arm upon the outer end,as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I hereby afiix mysignature in presence of two witnesses.

THEODORE C. M'UNZ. lVitnesses:

WILLIAM WEBSTER, ANNA J. LEHANEY.

